turtledovefandomcom-20200216-history
Great War
For the OTL Great War as it relates to the Worldwar series, see World War I. The '''Great War' was a war fought among the major powers of Europe and North America from 1914 to 1917. It began with the assassination of Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Serbian nationalists in Sarajevo. The incident led Austria-Hungary to declare war agaist Serbia, which was supported by Russia. Both Vienna and Moscow invoked strategic military alliance systems across the globe, and the largest war in human history began. The combatants were members of the Entente and Central Powers alliance systems, and the Central Powers won on both continents. Combatants The Road to the Great War: 1882-1914 Though triggered by a random event, the war was three decades in the making. The United States, shamed by its twin defeats at the hands of the Confederate States and Britain, wasted little time in courting Germany as an ally. In short order, the Quadruple Alliance was formed; Germany, Austria-Hungary, the United States, and Italy. The Confederate States, not to be outdone, formalized its already strong relationship with Britain and France, joining them and Russia in the Entente (with Canada as a junior partner). The Specter of Remembrance in the USA By 1914 the United States, having borne half a century of humiliation at the hands of the CSA and its European allies, was eager for a shot at revenge. Nothing symbolised this so much as Remembrance Day (April 22), the anniversary of America's defeat in the Second Mexican War. Parades of war veterans and conscription classes would be held in every city, firing the American people with the promise of defeats avenged and glory to come. Though not universal - immigrant centres such as New York City were partially immune to Remembrance fervour - this sentiment ensured that the Democrats held a monopoly on the Presidency between 1884 and 1920. In an effort to avoid defeat in the expected conflict, the US emulated Imperial Germany in several ways, chiefly the introduction of conscription and rationing of key commodities such as coal. The army adopted German-style uniforms (though green-gray in color), officers were trained at German academies, and US-German fleet exercises were common. By the time the war erupted, the United States felt able and ready to take on the CSA and the British Empire. The Dominance of the Whig Party in the CSA Down south the Whig Party had held sway over Confederate politics since the nation had won its independence. Composed of the sons and grandsons of the CSA's founding fathers, these gentlemen of means perpetuated the rigid social hierarchy that stifled adaptation to a changing world. Feeling certain that the 'damnyankees' would be a pushover in any renewed war, the Whigs felt little need to address the social divide between rich and poor, or white and black. It was an outlook that would return to haunt them during and after the war. The Confederate Army, like its American counterpart, borrowed heavily from its European allies. British-style butternut uniforms replaced the gray worn by Lee and Jackson's men, the Tredegar rifle was modeled after the Lee-Enfield, and its main light artillery piece was a copy of the French 75. Officers were drawn from the ranks of the wealthy elite, enlisted men came from the poorer strata of white society, and blacks served as labourers who did everything but fight. The Outbreak of War in Europe and its Spread to America Despite several border incidents and other clashes (military or otherwise) between US and CS interests, the outbreak of war was due to a seemingly isolated event in a distant corner of Europe. Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, was blown apart by a Serbian assassin's bomb while touring Sarajevo. The magic of international alliances ensured that the crisis became an excuse for long-standing grudges and rivalries to be settled between member-states of the Entente and Alliance. President Woodrow Wilson of the CSA, taking the position that Serbia was a small nation heroically defying a large tyrant, asked for and received from Congress declarations of war against Germany and Austria-Hungary. Theodore Roosevelt, president of the USA, responded by declaring that the USA would stand by its allies, and initiated hostilities against the Confederacy. The Eastern Fronts The greatest battles in North America took place in the more populous east. The CSA's strategy was obvious; they threw their weight behind the Army of Northern Virginia's drive toward Philadelphia, the de facto capital of the US. The USA, on the other hand, focused its efforts on Kentucky and to a lesser extent western Virginia. With the exception of the Roanoke Valley, the war proved more mobile than in France, though the massive concentrations of men on small fronts still resulted in severe casualties on both sides. The C.S. Drive to Philadelphia Washington, DC, and most of Maryland were overwhelmed during the CSA's opening offensive, and by September 1914 Confederate soldiers stood upon the Susquehanna at Harrisburg. At this point the Confederate General Staff intended to wheel around Baltimore and cut it off while simultaneously placing Philadelphia under their guns. The U.S. Counterattack through Maryland The Confederate advance stalled at this point, however, and the US Army was able to build up its forces in the Baltimore pocket. In mid-1915 they were able to launch an attack upon the CS flank. Though the Confederates managed to slow the breakout they were forced out of Pennsylvania. The Army of Northern Virginia would stand upon the defensive for the rest of 1915 and 1916, slowly giving ground to advancing US soldiers. At the end of 1916, the CS had retreated from Maryland and was left only with Washington. War in the Roanoke Valley The American assault out of West Virginia commenced as soon as war was declared, with US troops seizing Confederate positions along the Blue Ridge Mountains. When they reached the Roanoke Valley and the transport and mining centre of Big Lick, the American advance halted thanks to Confederate trenches and reinforcements. 1915 was spent by both nations in fruitless attacks on the other side's defences. In 1916 first the US and then the Confederate armies used barrels for the first time, each gaining ground. By the end of the year the CS had lost just about all its gains from the summer offensive, and the US seemed content to ignore the Roanoke front in favour of other areas. The Kentucky Front The focal point of the US Army in eastern North America was Kentucky, the only Confederate state that contained some US sympathisers. Despite heavy losses to gunboats, the First Army under General Custer succeeded in establishing a beachhead on the southern bank of the Ohio, fighting its way south for the rest of 1914. Under General Pershing, Second Army conquered Louisville, this time pinching it from the flanks rather than fighting the Confederates in the city as General Orlando Willcox had done in the Second Mexican War. Farther east, Covington was taken as well, and became a major supply centre for the US Army. Notwithstanding heavy losses, the Americans pushed south throughout 1915. In western Kentucky a Confederate counterattack at Hopkinsville and Cadiz failed to halt the US Army for long. Bowling Green fell into US hands, and the first use of chlorine gas in North America further aided US advances. In eastern Kentucky the Confederates were also pushed back until by the end of the war only the south-eastern corner of the state remained outside US control. The First and Second Battles of Nashville By early 1916 the Americans stood at the Kentucky-Tennessee border. Custer's summer offensive that year was aimed at placing Nashville under American guns; US soldiers died in droves trying to force their way through the Highland Rim, as barrels broke down and Confederate dugouts proved difficult to eradicate. In the autumn General Daniel MacArthur proposed the radical idea of launching as assault upon the Confederate lines using unprecedented numbers of barrels. Custer agreed to the attack but held back the machines, not because he disagreed with Macarthur's plan but because he didn't want his young subordinate upstaging him. Not surprisingly, the Second Battle of Nashville ended in defeat for the US. The Western Fronts Compared to the titanic struggles back east, the war west of the Mississippi was small by comparison. As one character quipped, there were too many miles and not enough soldiers. The word 'lack' seems to sum up both sides in the west: lack of officers or replacements, lack of extensive wire belts or trench lines, lack of barrels or other vehicles. Given all that, the United States forces were able to swiftly gain the upper hand on all fronts due to their greater numbers and resources. Raiding the Great Plains Confederate cavalry raids into Kansas sought to destroy railroad lines and telegraph cables; though some of these raids succeeded, Confederate horsemen suffered heavier than expected losses battling armoured cars that sported machine guns. By the winter of 1914-15 the US had forced the Confederacy onto the defensive, ending any action in Kansas. The Sequoyah Front By 1915 the US army was deep inside Sequoyah (known as Oklahoma in our timeline). The War Department made the conquest of that state a priority, partly due to its oil deposits, but also US hatred of Sequoyahs' resident Indian tribes, who had raided Kansas with impunity from the War of Secession onwards. The Indians returned the sentiment with interest; the Creek Nation Army was formed by that tribe out of young warriors eager to defend their homeland. Despite professional leadership from white soldiers, Creek tribal leaders succeeded in destroying it by the end of 1915, in futile attacks meant to regain lost Creek territory. By the autumn of 1916, the Confederate Army and its Indian allies had been forced back to the Texas border. Despite being reinforced with newly-raised Negro units, Sequoyah was lost to the USA by the end of the war. The US advance into Texas After early Confederate successes in New Mexico, these gains were lost by early 1915, and the Army of West Texas remained on the defensive for the remainder of the war. By 1916 Lubbock had fallen, and thereafter the Americans pushed deeper into Texas. The CS soldiers retreated to Dickens, and then to the small hamlet of Grow before the cease-fire in late 1917. The Arkansas Front The US assault into Arkansas began in 1915, but swiftly stalled outside of Jonesboro. Advances didn't resume until early 1917, partly thanks to the extraordinary efforts of a Presbyterian fanatic named Gordon McSweeney. Alone, McSweeney stopped a Confederate counter-attack out of Jonesboro by disabling its sole barrel, destroyed a Confederate river monitor that was holding his men up, and pierced Confederate defences in Craighead Forest. By the war's end, Memphis lay under American guns. The Fourth Anglo-American War The border between Canada and the United States was possibly the longest fortified boundary in the world by 1914; great belts of barbed wire marked their respective frontiers, while fleets of Great Lakes 'battleships' (actually armoured cruisers) prowled the waters between Ontario and the Midwest. The Manitoba Front The vital rail junction at Winnipeg was a priority target for the US Army; its capture would split the populous states of Quebec and Ontario from their primary food source. However, though the outnumbered Canadian defenders were thrown back from the border during August 1914, the Americans failed to capture the city in their opening offensive. By 1915 the two sides had fixed their lines about halfway between Winnipeg and the prewar border. Late in that year, an Anglo-Canadian offensive succeeded in regaining some lost ground, but the end of 1916 the US Army had thrown the Canadians back once more. The Ontario Fronts The major US effort in the north was directed at Toronto, Ontario, the heartland of Canada's population and industry. The initial plan was out-and-out conquest, which swiftly foundered in the face of machine guns and trench lines. American Great Lakes battleships, intended to provide needed fire support, were rendered ineffective by Canadian mines and submersibles. The Canadian lines on the Niagara peninsula had been overrun by September 1914, but the cost in lives was tremendous. Farther west the anticipated walkover from Michigan failed to occur. During 1914 and into early 1915, the Canadian defence centred upon London; after that line was finally cracked, the Canadians and British fell back to Empire and Guelph. During 1916, the Americans had fought their way into Acton, only to lose ground to an Anglo-Canadian counter-attack (which introduced tanks to the Canadian front). America's unexpectedly slow progress in Ontario was partly due to the demands of battling two nations on opposite sides of its border. The nature of warfare in the Great War was the main reason however; the combination of trenches, machine-guns and artillery, and the constricted geography of southern Ontario, all of which favoured the defender, allowed the Canadians to inflict huge losses upon their attackers. In addition, the US-held areas were ruined with no usable roads or railroads; in contrast the Canadians fought with an intact transport system. The St. Lawrence Campaign In far eastern Canada, the American forces managed to fight their way to the Saint Lawrence River in the opening weeks of the war, seizing New Brunswick and part of Nova Scotia in the process. After this early triumph, the US advance foundered; crossing the St. Lawrence proved to be a different task than reaching it. Nevertheless, the Americans persevered; an assault upon Quebec City and Montreal from the north seems to have been their only viable option on the Quebecois front, as the short overland advance from New York stalled early in the war. Despite the difficulties of supplying and reinforcing an army over the river, the Americans managed to advance steadily south throughout 1915 and 1916. Canadian counter-attacks in 1916 succeeded in putting Riviere-du-Loup within aircraft range; even so, Quebec City was under US guns by early 1917. One possible reason for the seeming waste of American resources on this front would be denying the St. Lawrence waterway to British reinforcements. With American guns on both sides of the river, the British were forced to ship in reinforcements via Hudson Bay or Labrador, both impassable in winter. War in the Canadian Rockies The war in British Colombia was a distant affair, ignored in favour of the more titanic battles raging farther east. During 1914 and 1915, ferocious fighting between the small US and Canadian forces resulted in few gains for the former. Though Crowsnest Pass was taken by the Americans, the Canadians simply doubled their rail traffic in Kicking Horse Pass farther north. In mid-1916 all that changed. Major Irving Morrell, temporarily disgraced after a reverse in Utah, arrived and proceeded to outfight the Canadians through his more imaginative tactics and better leadership. By the end of the summer, Kicking Horse Pass and Banff were in US hands. With only the less-usable Yellowhead Pass now available to them, the Pacific coastline of Canada was effectively cut off from the rest of the country, reducing foreign assistance for the rest of the war. The End of the Great War In contrast to the previous three years of stalemate, 1917 was to be a year of continuous US victories. With the Confederacy scraping the manpower barrel for black soldiers and Canada in a worse state, it was all the two nations could do to slow the American tide. General Custer's Grand Plan In what was probably the only real flash of genius Custer had in his lifetime, the old general realised that the best way of using barrels was in one great mass rather than as infantry support weapons. Accordingly he gathered over 300 barrels along a two-mile stretch of front. When inquiries came from the War Department and President Roosevelt paid a personal visit to Custer's headquarters, the First Army's commander told them that the deployment existed only on paper, in order to fool Confederate spies. Satisfied, they let Custer be and First Army continued to amass infantry and barrels opposite White House, Tennessee. Third Nashville: The Barrel Roll Offensive of April 22, 1917 After a short but intense artillery barrage, the US forces under Lt-Col Irving Morrell rolled forward on April 22. Despite spirited resistance from the Confederates (including a handful of barrels and newly-raised Negro units), the US Army broke through CS lines and found itself within artillery range of Nashville. Despite the flagrant violation of War Department doctrine, Custer's success with the barrels led to a radical change in US tactics as Philadelphia reluctantly endorsed Custer's methods. The U.S. advance to the Rappahannock The American push into Virginia began on Remembrance Day, but real progress was not made until the barrel tactics of Custer and Morrell were adopted. Even so the Army of Northern Virginia was forced across the Potomac, Washington, DC, was retaken and CS soldiers sensed that the war was coming to a close. Despite the heroic actions of a handful of units (notably Sergeant Jake Featherston and the First Richmond Howitzers) at Round Hill and Bull Run, the rout spread. First, several raw Negro troops broke and ran, coming under fire from a furious Jake Featherston. Then white units started disintegrating as well. By the war's end the US Army stood upon the Rappahannock, the Confederates having fallen back to Fredericksburg. Fourth Nashville: The Confederacy asks for an armistice Three weeks after the Barrel Roll Offensive Morrel led his barrels across the Cumberland River, successfully outflanking the CS defences. Nashville fell and First Army continued its drive south, intent on taking Murfreesboro. It was halted near Nolensville not by Confederate resistance but by CS requests for a cease-fire. Roosevelt accepted a local cease-fire along the Tennessee front, much to Custer's chagrin. (He later claimed to his adjutant, "Murfreesboro?! To hell with Murfreesboro! We'd be advancing on Chattanooga, damn me to hell if we wouldn't!") Despite hemming and hawing about the matter, threats from Roosevelt ensured that the CSA surrendered on all fronts by early autumn, 1917. The Fall of Winnipeg and Toronto: Canada surrenders With their advance to the south of Toronto stalled, the American forces in Ontario shifted their efforts to the northwest of the city. The outflanking move paid off; by the late summer the US Army was fighting on the outskirts of Toronto. Winnepeg had already fallen, cutting Canada in half, and Quebec City was taken by the Americans and a pair of regiments raised from the newly-created Republic of Quebec. With its European allies defeated, the Confederate States already surrendering and the prospect of a million US reinforcements coming up from CS-US fronts, the Canadians and British finally requested a cease-fire for land and air forces in Canada. Though embittered by defeat, the Canadians could take solace in the fact that, with the exception of Britain (and arguably Japan), they had outlasted all of their stronger allies. The Great War at Sea Battle of Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor was captured from the British in August 1914 by the United States Navy. The American Pacific Fleet (minus the North Pacific Squadron in Seattle) put to sea days before the outbreak of war, and snuck around the far end of the Sandwich Islands. Attacked from the south, the Royal Navy hadn't yet reinforced Pearl Harbor and was caught by surprise. In short order the ships based there were sunk. The land forts were taken by a regiment of Marines and a US Army division. The Concrete Battleship - an artificial island-fort that commanded Pearl Harbor's entrance - proved a more durable opponent. Two capital ships were damaged and a light cruiser lost before the Americans snuck a freighter's worth of armed sailors into its main air vents. A mixture of fuel oil and explosive charges ignited the fort's ammunition, and the Concrete Battleship was blown apart, according to one witness, in an explosion rivalling Krakatoa. Pearl Harbor was secure, and remained a strategically important U.S. base well into the next war. Battle of the Three Navies Raiding and patrols characterised the Pacific theatre for the next two years, until the Royal Navy and its Japanese counterpart launched a combined attack upon the Sandwich Islands. The fleets never got there; part of the US Navy intercepted their ships south-west of the islands and the result was the only set-piece fleet battle in the Pacific. A confused encounter, the Battle of the Three Navies was most notable for the "Death Ride of the battleship USS Dakota," damaged steering forcing the ship to sail between British and Japanese lines. The ship survived, albeit with some damage, and the battle proved to be tactically inconclusive. Strategically it was nonetheless a victory for the United States, as their control of Pearl Harbor remained uncontested for the rest of the war. Riverine Operations on North American rivers Submarines and Commerce Raiding in the Atlantic The US Navy and Brazil cut the UK's lifeline to Argentina When Brazil entered the war on the side of the Quadruple Alliance, it spelled the end for vital shipments of supplies and beef from Argentina to England. Unable to stand up to the might of the powerful U.S. and Brazilian navies, Argentina cracked under the pressure. This played a major role in forcing the British to surrender. The USS Ericsson Incident The USS Ericsson was a U.S. Navy destroyer that was sunk by Confederate Navy Captain Roger Kimball (commanding the CSS Bonefish) "after" the Confederate States had officially surrendered. The USA initially assumed that the ship had been sunk by the British Navy, which was still officially at war on the high seas. Later, a rival officer from the Bonefish revealed the true culprit. Kimball was subsequently murdered in Charleston, SC, by Sylvia Enos, the wife of George Enos, one on the seamen killed when the Ericsson was sunk. She was released to the USA to mitigate the unlawful sinking of the USS Ericsson, and was regarded as a hero in the United States. The Mormon Rebellion in the USA The Red Rebellion in the CSA Between 1915-1916, when many blacks revolted agaist the Confederacy and, influenced by both Karl Marx and Abraham Lincoln, attempted to form a socialist republic. With the help of the United States, the rebellion became a major problem to Confederate forces as they were forced to divert some of their units from other fronts to the crush this fledging republic. Only 10% of the 10 million blacks in the Confederacy were actually involved, but post-war, especially after the rise to power of the Freedom Party, blacks generally were blamed for the rebellion and the resulting national defeat. The initial rebellion was eventually put down by CS Army troops diverted from the main fight against the US. Politics of the USA and the CSA during the Great War The Confederate States election of 1915 was the first election in Confederate States history to be held during wartime. The Radical Liberals ran Chihuahuan Doroteo Arango against Whig vice president Gabriel Semmes. Vice President Semmes won, and became the 10th President of the Confederate States. The very next year, in 1916, Socialist Eugene V. Debs ran against popular Democratic incumbent Theodore Roosevelt. The Socialists hoped to end the war, but President Roosevelt defeated Debs in a landslide. This marked the second consecutive defeat for Debs. Europe during the Great War The European side of the war seems little changed between 1914 and 1916. The Germans are defeated by the Anglo-French at the Marne while emerging victorious against the Russians at Tannenburg. The use of chlorine gas by the Germans at Ypres in 1915 is followed the next year by the seizure of Verdun from the French. (In our world, the Germans only took some of the outlying forts.) The French also seem to be making a heavier use of African colonial units than in our timeline. Italy remains neutral throughout this war (historically it joined the Allies in 1915), relieving an already-overstreached Austria-Hungary still fighting Serbia and Russia. Either the British fail to seize Palestine from the Ottomans or they are not allowed to occupy it after the war is over as it is still a Turkish province in 1942. The Battle of Jutland occurs as well, with the same result as our world. Ireland is the scene of a major rebellion (unlike the Easter Rising of our world), with US destroyers and German U-boats delivering arms shipments to the rebels. 1917 proves very different from the historical war. Russia collapses as in our history, but the mutinies in the French army prove more serious, and eventually result in France's surrender by July 1917. Britain is forced to withdraw its soldiers from northern France, but holds out until Canada is lost and its food supplies are severed. The Peace Treaty and its Results The surrender of the Entente to the Quadruple Alliance was a tough one. *Britain gave control of Canada, Newfoundland, the Bahamas, and Bermuda to the United States. (The half of Maine lost during the Second Mexican War was returned to Maine, with some additional territory from New Brunswick.) *The Confederacy surrendered the states of Kentucky and Sequoyah, as well as the western portion of Texas (called the State of Houston by the US), all of northern Virginia to the Rappahannock, a strip of Arkansas added to Missouri, and a chunk of Sonora added to New Mexico. *The German Empire annexed Luxembourg and the portion of Lorraine left to France after the Franco-Prussian War *Belgium remained under German occupation and Holland came under German influence. *The Belgian Congo became a German colony. *Austria-Hungary received Romania and Albania as satellites with Serbia probably dismantled. New countries included the following: *The Republic of Quebec, allied to the United States *The Republic of Ireland (including Ulster), allied to both the United States and Germany *Poland and the Ukraine (both allied to the Germans). U.S. Secretary of State Robert Lansing helped negotiate these terms. After Effects Despite hopes this would be the war to end all wars, tensions still lingered. The Confederates soon turned to the Freedom Party under Jake Featherston who eventually became the CS president in 1934. In France the Action Francaise gained power and put King Charles XI on the throne. And in Britain the Silver Shirts under Oswald Mosley formed a noisy minority in Parliament, with Winston Churchill being named Prime Minister to keep them from taking over. While it fought on the losing side, the Empire of Japan lost nothing and payed no reparations, allowing it to continue to expand in the Pacific, and bringing it into conflict with the United States again in 1932. These new powers would help bring about a Second Great War in 1941. The victorious United States went through dramatic changes as well. Voters would not reelect Theodore Roosevelt for a third term in 1920, instead giving the office to Upton Sinclair, making him the first Socialist president. The nation found itself ruling a great empire and finding Germany a rival instead of a friend. There was talk of conflict between the two powers in the 1920's, but the Great Depression and the return of old enemies kept this from happening. The small amount of liberalisation that the Blacks had gained post-War of Secession was lost following the disastrous Red Rebellion. The post-war hate toward blacks helped contribute to the the rise of Jake Featherston and the Freedom Party who began the practice of genocide on the black population. As this process began many blacks began to take arms once again, usually attacking in small raids and using guerrilla warfare. This fighting would also eventually continue into the Second Great War. Great War Great War